Licensed Therapist in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Serving Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties

Have you been caught up in a vicious circle of anxiety and rage that you soothe with weed or alcohol, which then makes you anxious and angry? Or, have conversations with your significant other turned into verbal slugfests that leave you anxious and angry? If either of these scenarios sound familiar, Dr. Gary M. Forrest (Gary) can help. Gary specializes in relationship issues, anger/rage resolution, and substance abuse. These three specializations are so frequently linked that to be effective a therapist must be an expert in all of these areas and in every combination of them—a formidable task! His competence in dealing with every combination of these three areas sets Gary apart from most therapists.

Relationship Issues

Gary specializes in relationship issues, which often include depression, anxiety, anger, cheating, substance abuse, and sometimes, domestic violence. Roll all of these issues into one ugly ball and they are all problems of communication. Gary works with you to find those small, easy (and sometimes not-so-easy) changes that you can make to cause big changes in your relationships.

Because every individual and couple is unique, Gary tailors his sessions to your particular needs. To find out what those needs are, in addition to simply asking questions, he uses various widely accepted diagnostic tools that can reveal aspects of your personality, such as the degree of anxiety you are experiencing when you say you are anxious, for example.In this way, he gets a very good idea of what is going on.

Anger Management and Rage

Gary also specializes in issues of rage and anger. Although the popular term is Anger Management, Gary believes that the goal of anger therapy should be to get rid of anger and not just manage it. Gary believes that each of us expresses anger differently, including not expressing it. Because of this, Gary uses diagnostic tools to help pinpoint the type of anger that you are experiencing and how well you are controlling it, or not controlling it. These tools also allow him to design an anger resolution program for you that is uniquely yours. No one else will have exactly the same program that you have because how you experience and express anger is also uniquely yours.

Substance Abuse

Gary specializes in Substance Abuse issues. In fact, his interest in substance abuse and dependence issues caused him to enroll in a Certified Addictions Professional (CAP) program even before he left his first career in high technology management. The CAP program included 350 classroom hours of study and 6000 hours (approximately 3 years of full-time work) of addiction-specific professional work experience.

In 2014, Gary became a Certified U.S. Department of Transportation Substance Abuse Professional (SAP), which means whenever the operator of a bus, truck, train, plane, or ship has an incident that may be caused by alcohol or drug use, or if an operator fails a random drug test, he or she is sent to a SAP who evaluates their fitness for service and designs a treatment plan for that individual. This is a great responsibility and Gary is proud to hold this certification.

With all of his study of substance abuse, Gary is very interested in programs that do not embrace the 12-step model, such as SMART Recovery. Gary has found that 12-step programs such as AA and NA can be very helpful for some people. For those individuals who do not enjoy 12-step programs, SMART Recovery may be another answer. Gary finds that he has been successful treating substance abuse as a compulsion, like gambling, overeating, or smoking.

Gary offers an individual Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for busy executives and affluent individuals who need a court-ordered (or, in some cases, divorce lawyer ordered) IOP program, but who either do not wish to complete the required nine hours per week in the company of others or who need a flexible schedule that will allow them the flexibility to hold down a high-powered job. This discreet program has been highly successful. Gary employs many different techniques and diagnostics to hold the interest of easily bored, busy people.